The Wesleyan Argushttp://wesleyanargus.com
Twice-weekly student newspaper of Wesleyan University in Middletown.Tue, 19 Mar 2019 18:25:31 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.2Director’s Note Regarding Bare: A Staged Concerthttp://wesleyanargus.com/2019/03/07/directors-note-regarding-bare-a-staged-concert/
http://wesleyanargus.com/2019/03/07/directors-note-regarding-bare-a-staged-concert/#commentsThu, 07 Mar 2019 22:44:25 +0000http://wesleyanargus.com/?p=153157Over this past semester, I have had the awesome honor of directing Bare through Second Stage. As predominantly underclassmen were working on this show we experienced many issues regarding diversity and the implications of a flawed script and were faced with a myriad of difficult decisions regarding its integrity and contents.

As we made progress with the show, we struggled with filling the cast and casting roles that we needed. One specific role we were trying to cast unfortunately, in many ways, is problematic and draws upon stereotypes to create a caricature. This was not apparent to us going into the process, and we take full ownership over that oversight. Roles that serve poor representation is not something our team stands for. It became clear that the show should not go up if the role exists in its original form. We were committed to having an open and honest conversation regarding the role, but we could not move forward if we could not cast someone. We were faced with a dilemma regarding how we wanted the show to progress, and we ultimately decided to step down from presenting the show in its full narrative and instead to present it as a staged concert. We also decided to cut the role from the show. This was not an easy decision because taking out a POC narrative from a show is inherently going to decrease diversity within the natural story. However, we believe with this decision, it is the best and most responsible way the show could be produced.

While we acknowledge this show has problematic roots, it still has an incredibly powerful message. The message behind this show is that those who are lost and cannot find their way – whether they be wrestling with inner demons, exploring their sexuality or being labelled as something that will instigate constant ridicule – need support, guidance and love. This is the message I align with, and I hope this is the message that people take away.

We have moved forward with careful thought as to how this show will be crafted and presented, keeping in mind everything we have learned so far. We decided that this will be the least problematic way to present the story; being able to divorce ourselves from the strict narrative of the show and thus, not present a piece that encourages stereotypes. There were many factors that went into our decision making, but we again hope that people can take away the message of love and support. Clearly, there was no perfect answer to the issues that we have dealt with. Proceeding forward, I am still engaged with the open conversation of sculpting diverse and effective storytelling. Being an artist means that we have to instill and create messages that have real humankind potency, and I have learned so much about that from this process in ways that I wish I could have known before. I am committed to apply this knowledge to any and all art that I make going forward, and carefully observing privilege and creating theatrical spaces where inclusion is the only option. Furthermore, we send our sincere apologies to the POC community on campus for any discomfort we may have created in this process. If anyone has any thoughts to share or questions to pose, please shoot me an email at kjones02@wesleyan.edu.

On Wednesday, March 6, the University unveiled the winner of its monogram design competition. The winning monogram, designed by Gabriel Drozdov ’19, was chosen by members of the Wesleyan community through an online vote.

“I had never thought that I would have actually won the contest,” Drozdov wrote in an email to The Argus. “I’m incredibly excited to know that I’ll be seeing things like merchandise…[with] this logo now!”

The University faced backlash in September 2018 after releasing a new monogram and website design without consulting the Wesleyan community. Shortly after its release, the new monogram was retired, and the University returned to the former design, opting to use a call for design submissions and community vote to select the new monogram.

“We realized that the best way to develop a truly representative mark was to engage our community’s creativity and incorporate their feedback,” Director of Marketing Deb Katz said to the Wesleyan Connection.

A theater and computer science double-major from Scarsdale, NY, Drozdov has no formal training in graphic design but has developed his skills by undertaking various graphic- and web-design projects. For example, he is in charge of the graphic, web, and sound design for Second Stage, Wesleyan’s student-run theater company. He has also worked on branding and web design for The 24 Hour Plays, a theater company based in New York City which specializes in producing shows prepared in one day. More of his projects and experience are showcased on his website.

Drozdov explained that his design was influenced by his frustration with the University’s decision to change its monogram and website.

“I especially felt frustrated that the identity I had grown to know and love seemed to have disappeared during my last year at Wes,” he wrote. “When the original monogram was pulled and the monogram competition opened, I tried to create something new and flashy but ultimately realized that all I wanted, and all that my peers wanted, was something that felt collegiate.”

Professor of Economics Gilbert Skillman, who also served on the committee, echoed the importance of student and community involvement in the selection of thew new monogram.

“What I like about it is engaging the community,” he said. “I would have liked to have that from the beginning.”

Many Wesleyan students turn to Pi Café for their daily dose of caffeine. It’s well-located, has a good amount of work space, and maybe most importantly, serves fresh bagels.

But there’s actually another place to get good coffee on campus. Located on the bottom floor of Allbritton, Espwesso is a student-run coffee shop that has been serving the Wesleyan community since 2010.

Student-run is exactly what it sounds like: the students do everything.

“Fortunately, because we’re on a campus, we don’t pay rent or utilities, which is how we’re able to keep prices low and provide free drip coffee (if you bring your own mug!)” explained Noa Azulai ’19, current manager of Espwesso, in an email to The Argus. “But from sourcing milk and coffee, to hiring new workers, to (re)decorating the space, to organizing events, to addressing internal issues—it’s all us, all students. It allows us a flexibility that we wouldn’t have if we were overseen by the university. It gives us, as student workers, autonomy over our schedules, which doesn’t happen often in college.”

A student-run business like this one didn’t appear out of nowhere, founders Alex Bernson ’11 and Sophia Levan ’12 explained.

Bernson transferred to Wesleyan for the 2009-2010 school year after spending two years at Boston University and a year on the West Coast working as a barista.

“I had been a big coffee dork for a while at this point,” Bernson said. “I was dedicating a lot of my life to it so I spent a little over a year in Portland, honing my craft there, and then came to Wesleyan. So I was coming in looking to do coffee stuff with my life, basically.”

That year, Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) Senator Micah Feiring ’11 spearheaded a campaign to open a student-run coffee shop in the basement of Allbritton.

“He had this dream for a long time of a more student owned and run community space-slash-café-slash-hangout kind of thing and had been trying to get it up in a few different permutations,” Bernson recounted. “He was working on that with student government.”

Feiring penned an Argus article asking if any students wanted to help him open the café.

“[The article] asked if anyone had any experience working in and running coffee shops,” explained Levan, who had the relevant experience after working at her family’s coffee roasting company and in various other coffee shops. “As far as I know, only two people actually responded to the article: Alex Bernson and me. Together the three of us secured the space, a start-up grant for the equipment, and hired the first Espwesso employees.”

“Micah did all the politics of it, Sophie was doing the business side of it…, and I was looking after the coffee side, and training staff, and all the rest,” Bernson said.

But Espwesso’s purpose wasn’t only to serve coffee: The creators also wanted the café to be a tool for teaching students how to run a business.

“From the beginning, we focused on being financially independent and socially and environmentally conscious.” Levan said. “We met with members of the staff, local farmers, physical plant, and economics professors to think through the logistics of becoming a sustainable small business. The goal was not only to build a space for students, but also to create a work environment that students learned from and strived to participate in.”

The process of choosing the name was also student-oriented, with the name decision coming from a poll on Wesleying, the student-run blog.

Espwesso officially opened on Nov. 10, 2010, originally as a late-night option from 9 p.m.-1 a.m.

“The goal was to have a café space that was open during late hours for students to study alongside one another,” Azulai said.

Over time, however, the hours have changed. The café currently serves organic, free-trade coffee from New Harvest Coffee Roasters in Rhode Island from10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and additional evening hours 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. Sunday through Thursday.

Espwesso ran smoothly under Levan, Bernson, and Feiring’s guidance. But all three were concerned with how to secure the coffee shop’s legacy.

“Creating institutional memory is incredibly complicated in a student-run business,” Levan said. “We thought long and hard about how to pass along knowledge between generations and how to ensure that younger students entered the pipeline and were adequately trained to eventually run the shop.”

After leaving the University, the founders passed the baton to Jacob Eichengreen ’13 and Hannah Cressy ’13, two of the original Espwesso employees. Since then, Espwesso has continued to be self-sufficient, employing students who are just as passionate about coffee as its founders.

As one might imagine, keeping Espwesso running smoothly comes with its own challenges and rewards.

“The bottom line here is that [being a student-run business] it’s really really hard,” Azulai explained. “To be essentially managing a business while taking classes is far more difficult and stressful than I ever thought it would be. When we run out of certain supplies (oat milk, for example) because of an ordering issue, or maybe simply because we forgot to place an order, it hurts the functionality of the café. But even with all the challenges, it is absolutely worth it.”

This article has been edited to reflect Espwesso’s hours this semester. They are open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays, not Saturdays.

The Los Angeles Lakers just lost to the Phoenix Suns. It is perhaps the most disappointing loss for a team with rising talent and possibly the greatest player ever to pick up a basketball. And because basketball is a team sport, the whole team deserves blame for the loss. But according to the internet, every Lakers loss falls squarely on the shoulders of LeBron James and no one else. This online hatred for James turns so often into a racist, homophobic, and sexist mess.

For complete disclosure, LeBron James is my favorite basketball player. I became a Lakers fan for that reason alone. I’m not naïve, however. James is not an infallible person and has made on-court and off-court faux pas—like when hecriticized his young teammates for problems that the veterans are causing. Regardless, he’s clearly a generational player. James is the only NBA player in history to betop 10 in both career points and career assists.

I am not excluded in this criticism either. Even I catch myself calling players “boys,” which is slavery rhetoric at worst and appropriation of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) at best. No one should call a grown man “boy” regardless of connotation or situation.

The internet, on the other hand, doesn’t have a problem with terms like “LeBum,” which stings because James spenthis childhood poor and sleeping on friends’ couches. Or worse yet, people have dubbed him “LeCunt” in the comment sections of YouTube videos. And another is “LeActress,”showing the latent sexism of NBA fans. If James is at all imperfect, he’s become a woman. And that James being a woman is an insult (rather than just factually incorrect) reveals how these critics feel about women.

Name calling is rude and childish, but this is the internet we’re talking about here. Even keeping that in mind, shlubs online feel no barriers to expressing their negative opinions of the King. This is curious, considering James had national attention at just 16 years old and has never lost it since. And by many measures, James lived up to the lofty expectations without crumbling. The total willingness to denigrate a supremely talented man by calling him a “bum” only shows that some NBA fans fail to think of players as humans at all.

James recently stated that NFL owners have a“slave mentality,” where players are expendable objects that can be thrown out when they’re no longer of value. While that’s completely true, NBA fans sometimes have a similar dehumanizing logic—one in which players are only respected when they succeed. When they misstep, players are suddenly “bums” or “trash.” I’ve seen sports commentators talk about NBA team trades in terms of “assets” instead of “people.” It’s as though we’ve forgotten that they’re trading literal people and sending them to places across the country. Sometimes, those players don’t want to leave, as was the case withDeMar DeRozan. Harrison Barnes wastraded in the middle of a game this year, further showing these players are treated as objects that can be bought and sold when necessary.

The NBA thus creates extreme commodification, leading to an often uncomfortable viewership dynamic. The viewer demands intense physical labor for each of the 82 regular season games. And if those players don’t quite deliver, fans get irate. Sports viewers in general demand entertainment from the players, which feels a bit uncomfortable when that sport is majority black.

It makes me wonder the viewership practices that we have today compared to old ones.

The U.S. used to have minstrel shows and human zoos. In the early 1900’s,human zoos were exhibits of mostly indigenous and black people for a white audience. This history is so shameful that I never learned about it in grade school. We view these displays as horrific and offensive, but Americans were fond of them at the time.

The NBA is not like a human zoo in that the players are paid millions of dollars and have the autonomy to leave the league. But sports can sometimes be like a human zoo, in that the typically white audience observes the typically black players for their unique physical traits. There is even a tendency to emphasize the intelligence of white players and the physical capabilities of black players, a phenomenon that Key and Peele skewered.

Maybe there’s nothing morally wrong about consuming NBA media. Or maybe the excitement I feel when LeBron James dunks powerfully comes from the same dehumanizing place as people who hurl slurs at him online. I’ll probably continue watching the Lakers, but I have a feeling that human zoo attendees didn’t think they were doing anything wrong either. Perhaps future students of history will look back at our media consumption with horror as we enjoyed watching majority-black teams with white owners compete against each other.

Wintry storms might be arriving in Middletown, but the tough winter weather has yet to blow away our Cardinals wrestling team. On Sunday, Feb. 17, men’s wrestling embarked on a trip to Trinity to compete at the New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) Futures Tournament. The tournament saw some incredible performances, especially from some of the squad’s younger members.

At the tournament, first-year Tucker Kirchberger led the day with a third-place victory and 5-1 record in the 165-pound class. Kirchberger had already established his dominance in the ring, earning eight victories throughout his rookie season. However, Kirchberger usually competes in the 157-pound class; this match offered Kirchberger some difficulty as he competed against slightly heavier opponents.

After starting the day with a bye and a pin in his first match, Kirchberger bounced back by earning two tough, decisive victories in the consolation bracket. He then followed the two victories by pinning down Williams’ Stephen Willis in a minute and 12 seconds. His wins kept on coming, with a 12-6 decision victory against Johnson and Wales University’s Christophe Behen, and finally, a pin of Castleton’s Enrico DeBernado in just 20 seconds.

The rest of the team had less success at the tournament, with first-year Greg Fischer (125) losing a tough match in the first round and a second in the consolation bracket. In the 133-pound bracket, Kasim Khan ’21 also lost his first-round match but managed to secure a win in the consolation bracket. Fellow sophomore and 133-pound bracket member Andrew Hennessy lost both of his matches during the tournament. Up the weight classes in the 285-pound bracket, Owen Verespy ’22 went 2-2 with a loss in the first round and two wins in the consolation bracket before falling in sudden-death overtime. Also in the 285 bracket, senior Karl Seitz was defeated in the first round while Krzysztof Nizielski ’20 fell in the second after a bye in the first. These Cardinals met in a matchup in the consolation bracket, with Nizielski taking the victory before losing his next match by pin.

Most recently, the Cardinals traveled to Providence on Sunday, Feb. 24 to compete at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships, hosted by Johnson and Wales. The Red and Black ended with an 11th-place finish in the 17-team field. While the team’s finish didn’t make the top half of the ladder, there were some very exciting victories from our fighters.

The Cardinals entered the NCAA Regionals with six nationally-ranked wrestlers: Zack Murillo ’19 (125), Tristan Stetson ’20 (133), James Matias ’19 (141), Shane Ross ’19 (149), Roy Forys ’20 (165) and Simon Chee ’21 (197). The competition featured some of the best wrestlers in the nation, including five 2018 All-Americans and sixteen top-ten nationally ranked wrestlers. Coming into the match, Murillo, who was third seed in weight class, ranked the highest among all Wesleyan competitors. He started the day strong with a Major Decision victory in the first round, but followed it with a much closer match in the second round against Roger Williams’ Kaiser, barely escaping a 4-2 sudden-death match. Murillo would then face a familiar opponent in the semi-finals, University of Southern Maine’s Peter del Gallo, the seventh-nationally ranked wrestler who fell to Murillo earlier in the season. Murillo, once again, came out of the matchup victorious, this time in a 2-1 decision. In the final match, Murillo fell 5-3 in a sudden death overtime against the number-one ranked wrestler in the country, Johnson & Wales’ Jay Albis. Nevertheless, Murillo’s spectacular run led him to finish second-place in his weight class as well as a bid to the NCAA Championships.

Meanwhile, Chee finished the day in fifth place and came out as the Cardinals’ second-best performer. Chee absolutely dominated the 197 class in his first two matches of the day, including an impressive 44-second pin against Norwich University’s Satchell Stauffer. However, Chee eventually fell in the semifinals against Johnson & Wales’ Michael DiNardo and then again in the consolation semifinals.

Forys, who entered the day with 31 victories and ten pins, won his first match by forfeit. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury in his second match and was unable to compete for the rest of the tournament. Forys has had an impressive breakout season, after earning the title of “Most Outstanding Wrestler” at the Doug Parker Invite earlier this season and has been seen as one of the team’s strongest players.

While this may be the end of wrestling for many of the Cardinals, we can look forward to seeing what accolades Murillo will rack up as he competes in the NCAA Division III National Championships in Roanoke, VA on March 8-9.

]]>http://wesleyanargus.com/2019/03/05/zack-murillo-19-claims-diii-national-wrestling-championship-bid/feed/0Hockey Season Comes to a Close as Teams Fall in NESCAC Tournamentshttp://wesleyanargus.com/2019/03/05/hockey-season-comes-to-a-close-as-teams-fall-in-nescac-tournaments/
http://wesleyanargus.com/2019/03/05/hockey-season-comes-to-a-close-as-teams-fall-in-nescac-tournaments/#respondTue, 05 Mar 2019 06:57:39 +0000http://wesleyanargus.com/?p=152913

Jonas Powell, Staff Photographer

Men’s Hockey

After a historic regular season, the men’s hockey team’s 2018-19 run came to an end with a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of Amherst. The NESCAC semifinal matchup was competitive, with no goals on either side of the puck until double overtime. This 1-0 defeat puts the team’s final record at 16-8-2.

Before this fall, the Cardinals advanced to the NESCAC semifinals with a victory against Middlebury in the quarterfinals, playing in front of a boisterous home crowd. Four different Cardinals scored goals in the game, and NESCAC Player of the Year Tim Sestak ’20 made 30 saves on 31 shots as the Cards cruised to the win.

However, in the game against Amherst, the offense had a much tougher time getting opportunities, as the Cardinals only ended up taking 39 shots in the nearly five periods of hockey played. On the defensive side of the puck, Sestak was stellar as he made a NESCAC record 65 saves on 66 shots in the game.

Despite the tough loss, captain Chad Malinowski ’19 was pleased with the team’s effort in their final game of the season and his final hockey game at Wesleyan.

“The team played hard and left everything on the ice in both games,” Malinowski said. “We gave each other our best efforts and played well. Although we came up short, I am extremely proud of the effort and sacrifice of this group.”

Even with all the success that the team had this year, Malinowski says the loss remains painful even two days later and will likely remain painful for a long time.

“As with most of the other guys, the loss still hurts. We were expecting and working for more and aren’t satisfied with how it ended,” Malinowski said. “We had a great season, historic in many respects, but I’m still not really ready to look at the season as a whole.”

Despite feeling the pain of defeat, Malinowski noted that the program has a bright future ahead. He believes the team has more to look forward to next year after this season’s success.

“The program has come so far in my four years here,” he said. “In those four years, us and Trinity were the only teams to make it to three semi-finals. Before these last three years, the program had only been to one semi-final. While these are great accomplishments, as a program, we are still searching for our first championship. Next year, they return a lot of very talented pieces and are poised to make another run.”

Things are looking up for the Cardinals despite the tough ending, and it will be fun to see if they can achieve even more history again next season.

Jonas Powell, Staff Photographer

Women’s Hockey

The women’s hockey season came to an end with a loss to Williams in the NESCAC quarterfinals last Saturday, Feb. 23. The Ephs took a two-goal lead early in the game. First, the enemy snuck one victorious shot past goalie Allegra Grant ’20 at the nine-minute mark. Next, NESCAC Player of the Year Meghan Halloran exploited a 5-3 advantage, pushing Williams ahead 2-0 with five minutes remaining in the first period. With ten seconds before intermission, first-year forward Cali Stevens had her shot knocked aside by the Purple Cows’ goalkeeper.

Williams lept out of the break with yet another score, taking a decisive 3-0 lead that would prove to be the final margin for the day. Although provided with two power plays in the final 22 minutes of play, Williams’ effective penalty kill shut down any hopes of a late Cardinal comeback. Grant made 21 saves in the loss, while Stevens led the Cards in shots on goal with four total. Williams goalie Chloe Heiting made 19 saves, recording her fifth shutout of the season. The Ephs, with a 18-4-3 record, advanced to the NESCAC semifinals, where they subsequently defeated Middlebury, 3-2.

The loss leaves the Cards with a final record of 8-15-2, which is an improvement of just two wins from last year’s season. This progress was especially evident on the ice, as Wesleyan took wins over ranked teams such as Middlebury for the first time in program history. Although successful in out-of-conference play, with solid wins early against Salve Regina University and the University of Massachusetts Boston, they only finished 4-12-1 in conference play, struggling against Amherst, Colby, and Conn. College. Hopefully, they will be able to build off of these wins and be even more successful in NESCAC play next year.

The first Ankh’sGiving, a celebratory event conceptualized by Arline Pierre-Louis ’19 for students of color (SOC) to gather and share their experiences, was held March 2 in Beckham Hall. Around 200 students attended the dinner, which featured various types of food, student performances, vendors, and a photo booth. Although the event was meant be a one-time occurrence, its success ensured that the Resource Center (RC) will put on Ankh’sGiving next year.

Pierre-Louis recognized that, while there are organizations for particular races and other identities, there are limited opportunities for all SOC to come together. She wanted to create an event for SOC to celebrate and foster a sense of community that was also independent from the University’s recruitment purposes.

“At the end of the day, we are all SOC trying to survive and stay in a PWI [predominantly white institution] that was not created for us,” Pierre-Louis wrote in an email explaining the event to SOC on campus. “It would only make sense for us to amplify our voice together as a POC community for a better quality of life and support system that we deserve here at Wesleyan. Why do we only come together at the beginning of the fall semester for a BBQ and the middle of April to recruit more SOC?Why can’t we have an event solely for us, to remind us of how much life we bring to Wesleyan?”

Pierre-Louis’ vision was inspired by the Haitian parties she grew up going to. She recalled her First Communion party, a Haitian tradition, as an example of the atmosphere she wanted to create for Ankh’sGiving.

“When it comes to parties, we go big,” Pierre-Louis said. “My parents put together a huge party for me, they rented the space, they got family members to make the food, there was music, there was alcohol—it was just great, it was an amazing experience. People ate, people laughed, and I was like, ‘Wow, we put in all that effort to make the space as organic as possible,’ and I thought to myself, ‘This is the way I want Ankh’sGiving to be.’”

She came up with the idea her junior fall, floating it by Dean for Equity and Inclusion Teshia Levy-Grant and Director of the Resource Center Demetrius Colvin when he first came to campus. Colvin approached her at the beginning of her senior year and told her the RC wished to help plan the event. The RC provided funding and a team of interns to help with the project, and they reached out to SOC representatives from various people of color (POC) collectives on campus to contribute, eventually forming a team of over 20 people working on the event.

While the event was initially planned to occur around Thanksgiving, logistical issues pushed the date to February, then March. The number of people planning the event dwindled down to seven—Pierre-Louis; Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality RC interns Ariella Reyes ’20 and Romina Beltran ’22; Shanté Hamilton John ’22; Kioni Marshall ’22; Leticia Rosario ’19; Lena Mitchell ’20—and the remaining members had to work long hours to pull the event off. Reyes, who coordinated the performers and did a rough draft of the decor, emphasized the effort Pierre-Louis put into the event.

“I would like to give a huge shoutout to Arline for making this vision become a reality,” Reyes wrote in an email to The Argus. “She was the core of the entire process and this event could not have happened without her. She put so much time and energy into making such a beautiful space for students of color, and we are so grateful to her.”

Holding the event in Beckham Hall, named after the first black Dean of the College Edgar Beckham ’58, was imperative to Pierre-Louis. She highlighted the importance of holding an event celebrating SOC there and was glad people were comfortable in that space, especially because other events for SOC are typically held in buildings like Russell House.

“People felt as if Beckham was for them because Beckham is for them,” Pierre-Louis said. “The upper-class white people use that space; if they can use that space, why can’t we use that space as well? Why can’t we claim that as our space as opposed to going to a location that’s far away from the center of campus?”

There was also a photo booth set up in the back of the room where a chair, interwoven with flowers, sat below a floral topiary ankh. Students used the setup to take photos throughout the night and publicized the fruits of the event on social media.

“I was just sick and tired of people getting dressed and putting on makeup just to walk all the way to Russell House, a dead white person’s house, just to take pictures on their haunted staircase,” Pierre-Louis said. “We could do so much better than that! There’s so much we could DIY.”

As people began arriving, student vendors lined the walls, selling artwork, jewelry, and body care products. For the event, the planning team ordered a wide variety of food, including Indian, Americanized Chinese, Caribbean, and Soul with vegan options and dessert, and there was a performance set consisting of music, dance, and spoken word.

A panel of SOC seniors spoke about their experiences at the University, including personal hardships and moments of triumph. While the organizers had originally planned to allow POC of all ages to sit on the panel, Pierre-Louis wanted it to consist of only seniors to convey a powerful message to underclassmen.

“[W]e would have more of an influence if all of these stories were coming from POC seniors who were about to leave so underclassmen know, ‘Yes, we went through all of things, but we made it and we’re about to graduate and no one can take that away from us,’” Pierre-Louis said.

For next year’s Ankh’sGiving, the RC will begin debriefing and planning after spring break, and a few members of the planning committee will be working on the event again next year. Beltran, who worked on coordinating vendors, spoke to the importance of holding the event again.

“I think it’s really important we acknowledge we’re sharing the Wesleyan community and we’re here to support each other and struggle together,” Beltran said. “It was really beautiful to see people spending their time on a Saturday night to come look at people’s art and talents, eat really good food, dress up, and take pictures.”

Renowned author and environmental activist Terry Tempest Williams spoke at Memorial Chapel this past Friday at an event sponsored by the College of the Environment, reading from her work and discussing her career and thoughts on environmentalism. Tempest Williams has written a number of books, essays, and poetry collections, and her work has taken her around the country and the world. One of her earliest and most well-known works, “Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place,” blends memoir and natural history, juxtaposing a personal trauma (Tempest Williams’ mother’s battle with breast cancer) with an environmental trauma (the flooding of a local bird refuge). “Refuge” addresses topics as diverse as Tempest Williams’ family history of cancer, her relationship with religion, the rising water levels of Utah’s Great Salt Lake, and the American government’s nuclear testing in the Southwest. This multi-facetedness is characteristic of Tempest William’s work, which often relates to subjects such as ecology, public health, preservation of public land, as well as our relationship as humans to the rest of the natural world.

Tempest Williams’ experience with the environment is not limited to writing; among other positions she has worked as a curator at the Utah Museum of Natural History, served as a team member on the President’s Council for Sustainable Development, and co-founded the Environmental Humanities program at the University of Utah. Currently, Tempest Williams is the writer-in-residence at the Harvard Divinity School, where she is studying and writing about the spiritual implications of climate change and environmental degradation. Over the course of her talk at Wesleyan, Tempest Williams shared a variety of stories about the importance of closely studying nature and the environment, such as her co-founding of the University of Utah’s acclaimed Environmental Humanities program.

“Long story short, we started an environmental humanities graduate program, the first in the country,” Tempest Williams said. “And we focused on how the humanities, the arts, and the sciences could help us think about what it was to be human.”

c/o Laurie Kenney, Contributing Photographer

The interdisciplinary master’s program, which Tempest Williams helped found in 2003 and also taught in, helped students analyze environmental issues through writing and other art forms. During her time at the University of Utah, Tempest Williams was known for her hands-on teaching, often taking students into the deserts or mountains to study the environment firsthand. However, Tempest Williams left the program in 2016 after clashing with the school’s administration over her focus on field-based over classroom-focused teaching. Many of her supporters believed that the administrative pressure on Tempest Williams was related to discomfort over her environmental activism, and Tempest Williams herself seemed to confirm this theory, explaining that her departure occurred soon after she and her husband purchased an oil and gas lease as an act of protest.

“We did purchase 1,120 acres,” Tempest Williams said. The purchase was meant both to prevent drilling from occurring on that parcel of land and to call attention to federal policies allowing for excessive development of public lands. “Two weeks later, the new dean of the University of Utah called me in, with a University of Utah attorney, and told me, ‘Thank you for your service. You will no longer be working here.’”

Many of Tempest Williams’ environmental stories ended on a more positive note. One such story, originally told to Tempest Williams by her friend, restoration ecologist Sue Beatty, deals with the successful restoration of Yosemite National Park’s famous Mariposa Grove. As Beatty was walking among the ancient sequoias of Mariposa Grove one day, she was hit by a sudden inexplicable sense that something was wrong with the trees.

“She kept hearing the same thing,” Tempest Williams said. “We are suffering. Can you hear us? We are dying…. And she thought, ‘What on earth, you know, this can’t be possible.’ And she continued on her way.”

Over the next few days, however, Beatty’s unease persisted. Concerned that there might actually be something wrong with the trees, Beatty and her team conducted a comprehensive study of the grove’s health the next week and was alarmed to find that her suspicions were correct.

c/o Laurie Kenney, Contributing Photographer

“What they found after that comprehensive study was that the trees were suffering, that they were dying,” Tempest Williams said. “Millions of tourists [were] tamping down their roots. Roads too close [were] blocking their root system.”

Beatty, along with the park’s leadership, created a multi-step proposal for restoring Mariposa Grove to full health, which involved temporarily closing the area to visitors.

“The plan that she laid out was [Mariposa Grove] can no longer be a place of entertainment and recreation. It must become a place of restoration, of reverence and reflection…,” Tempest Williams said. “And so for three years, they closed the Mariposa Grove, and the trees rested.”

As part of the restoration project, which was implemented starting in 2015, several waterways and wetland areas within the grove were restored, miles of pavement were removed, and trails were rerouted to avoid sensitive habitats. Tempest Williams cited this success story as an example of the importance of paying close attention to one’s surroundings, as Beatty did when she guessed something was wrong with the trees.

“I think about…the qualities most needed in this epoch now being called the Anthropocene, where the price of our species registers as a geological force.” Tempest Williams said. “One of the first qualities you might seek to cultivate is how to listen.”

The Board of Trustees met for their quarterly session on Friday, March 1 and later joined students for an open meeting. Students and trustees discussed key topics such as upcoming facilities projects and ongoing talks to divest the University’s endowment from fossil fuel companies. University President Michael Roth ’78 then went to the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) meeting on Sunday, March 3 to address the recent board meeting and answer any questions from students.

Several resolutions were passed during the Board’s meeting, such as plans to build a $16 million expansion to the Film Center, on which Director of Physical Plant Alan Rubacha expects to begin construction early this summer. During the WSA meeting, Roth spoke about the timeline of the facilities projects in the coming years, including the ongoing transfer of the Davison Art Center’s collections to the Olin basement, the dramatic renovation to the Public Affairs Center that is expected to finish in 2024, and the planned demolition of Hall-Atwater that will replace it with a more energy-efficient building.

60 students attended the open meeting with the Board. This is a dramatic increase from previous semesters, during which very few students—typically fewer than 15—would come to discuss topics of concern with the Board. The meeting was hosted in a new speed-dating format, which was conceived of by WSA Vice President Keishan Christophe ’19. Students sat in small groups at several tables, and trustees rotated every 10 minutes, allowing students to have face-to-face interactions with one or two trustees at a time. In the past, student-trustee meetings have been held with both parties in one large group. At these events, students could bring questions and concerns to the group as a whole.

Most students came to the meeting with plans to address a particular concern or set of concerns, including fears about the safety of wood-frame houses and the lack of social spaces on campus. Several students also brought up concerns about custodial workers being overworked and expressed hopes that the University would hire more staff.

Divestment from fossil fuels arose as a point of controversy on which board members expressed differing views as they rotated. When asked about divestment, Board Chair Donna Morea ’76, P’06, emphasized that the University selects fund managers rather than individual stocks.

“We want to make sure that our managers of funds are socially and environmentally conscious and share our values,” Morea said. “As far as fossil fuels go, we are all dependent on fossil fuels. Some of you might even have cars, and they might even use gas. And so the way we’ve approached this issue is to try to lean in on newer sources of energy and encourage our managers to begin to diversify their portfolios and lean into the future, but we do not have a hard-and-fast policy about investment.”

However, when asked directly if divestment was a priority for the Board, Morea replied, “No.”

“There is definitely advocacy for the climate and its relationship to what we’re invested in,” he said.

When asked where the advocacy came from, Sirmans emphasized that it was from within the Board.

“It’s coming within the [investment] committee, it’s coming from the full board, who, in a way, is responsible for whatever the investment committee report is, and that happens at every board meeting,” he said.

When told that Morea had directly said that divestment was not a priority for the Board, Sirmans said, “Wow. I’d be surprised.”

At the WSA meeting on Sunday, Roth was asked what evidence would compel him to push for total divestment from fossil fuels.

“I would have to see that it would make a material difference in our effort to become a better steward of the environment and that it’s not just symbolic,” Roth replied. “I don’t want to say it shouldn’t be symbolic—I think the symbolic part is important, and maybe I’ve underestimated that importance—but I would want to see the argument that actually doing this would have a benefit beyond making us feel better about ourselves.”

A few key statistics came out of the board meeting, such as approving a 4.4 percent tuition hike for the 2019-2020 academic year. As student representatives on the Board wrote in the March 2019 Board Report and addressed more extensively during the meeting, the Board had only expected to raise it by 4.1 percent but had to increase it to accommodate lower-than-expected recent donations.

When discussing admission, trustees learned that the Class of 2023 also, so far, has the highest percentage of people of color in University history. In terms of socioeconomic diversity, 17 percent of accepted Early Decision (ED) applicants were eligible for Pell Grants, and the percentage of students admitted through the QuestBridge program was the highest-ever recorded.

At the WSA meeting, Roth emphasized that evaluating students from various income brackets based purely on academic merit would not help in determining which students are most deserving of admission.

“I, for one, have advocated for more Pell-eligible students, which is the government designation for low-income,” Roth explained. “Others say, ‘No, we want to have more money available for students from families who are really sacrificing to go to Wesleyan but aren’t low income….’ They’re all academically gifted, and there’s so many applications that look the same in terms of academic perspective. So I have my own perspective—the Board doesn’t fully agree with me, alas—to really raise the number of Pell-eligible students.”

Morea also told the Board that she plans to step down from the position of chair after the 2019-2020 academic year. She instructed them to select her replacement by the May meeting, which will be the next time the Board comes together.

Since the publication of this article, two marquee free agents, outfielder Bryce Harper and third baseman Manny Machado, have signed massive contracts. There has also been a large extension for Nolan Arenado, the star third baseman for the Colorado Rockies.

Machado, the first domino to fall, signed with the San Diego Padres for a deal worth $300 million over the next ten years. Many baseball fans balked at this contract for a few reasons. First, the Padres have largely been irrelevant for the past decade in the MLB. The Machado deal makes sense, as it puts the Padres franchise on the map, especially with the Chargers leaving San Diego. This movement opens up a large market for San Diego sports fans to possibly move towards baseball. Yet many analysts are still scratching their heads at Machado’s decision. While it is natural for players to try to maximize their salaries in their short athletic window, Machado has effectively ended any chance he had of ever making it deep into the postseason.

Other big signings in the market took their cues off Machado’s deal with San Diego. The Rockies signed Nolan Arenado to an eight-year extension worth $260 million, with a player opt-out option after the third year. This is $2.5 million more per year than Machado’s contract. It is vital for a fringe playoff team like the Rockies to keep their young homegrown talent if they want to get back to the playoffs. This deal seems to make sense on Arenado’s end as well. Colorado has notoriously high home run numbers due to the high altitude of the stadium, so Arenado should be able to continue to produce big numbers for the team into his late 30s. Additionally, if the market for free agents rebounds and baseball contracts begin to rise again, he can opt-out and push for an even larger contract.

With Machado and Arenado signed, the big player still left on the market was Bryce Harper. Harper has been an extremely divisive player since coming into the big leagues. In 2015, he posted one of the biggest seasons in MLB history, smashing 42 home runs and hitting .330 en route to winning the MVP award. However, in the years since that incredible season, he has failed to reproduce the magic of 2015. As a streaky player prone to injuries, Harper would be a big gamble for whichever team chose to invest in him.

In the early days of March, Harper finally got the money he had been shooting for throughout the free agency period, signing a 13-year, $330 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. This means that Harper, who’s now only 26, will stay loyal to Philly until he’s 39. He will also earn $25 million annually. Harper’s deal shattered the previous record $325 million dollar deal that Giancarlo Stanton signed for in 2014. For the Phillies, this represents a big investment in terms of their championship aspirations, both for this upcoming year and for the foreseeable future. Since their deep playoff runs in the late 2000s, the Phillies have largely been a team rebuilding through their farm system and the draft. This signing represents a deviation from that strategy.

For Harper, this deal is both a win and a loss. Many analysts have criticized him signing for only 25 million dollars a year, a figure far less than Machado’s and Arenado’s contracts. However, in Philly, he finds a team ready to win now and down the line. He will become the face of a young franchise with solid pieces in place, like righty hurler Aaron Nola and young slugger Maikel Franco.

After these three massive signings, I think of Weber’s argument about greedy capitalism. While it certainly took longer than expected for these superstars to be signed, exceptional talent wins out in this league.

However, a big theme in recent history has been the sabermetric movement.

“If the players all retired tomorrow, we would replace them, the game would go on; in three years it would make no difference whatsoever,” said Bill James, the pioneer of the baseball analytic movement. “The players are not the game, any more than the beer vendors are.”

This opinion has had a profound influence on the way baseball GMs construct their teams, and even managers select certain players for specific situations. The movement towards the use of analytics produces specialized players, and supports James’ argument that players can be replaceable. However, as we have just seen with these big money signings, some players are just so good that they are irreplaceable, and even have the power to get owners to open up their checkbooks.